


Just a Scary Dream

by theprodigypenguin



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Bad Dreams, Brotherly Bonding, Brotherly Love, Comfort, Dementors, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gryffindor, Hogwarts, Hufflepuff, Inferi, Nightmares, Other, Post Cursed Child, Potter brothers, Puffskein, Quidditch, Ravenclaw, Scary Stories, Slytherin, Thestrals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-26
Updated: 2019-01-26
Packaged: 2019-10-17 06:17:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17554967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theprodigypenguin/pseuds/theprodigypenguin
Summary: When they were younger, Albus always went to James when he had a particularly bad dream. He grew out of it, but in light of recent events, the murders of Craig and his grandparents and his involvement with Delphini, the bad dreams had just gotten worse, and only one person was ever able to help him through those nightmares.





	Just a Scary Dream

**Author's Note:**

> Woke up at 3am last night because of a nightmare where my family fuckin ditched me to a natural disaster (I think it was a hurricane), so to get the taste out of my mouth I wrote this fluffy family one shot with James and Albus. Might add more, because at the end there I got a small idea to involve Bill, but we'll see. It still hurts pretty badly to write with my finger, even when I'm on my phone, so it takes me a while. I feel like I could've done more with this, but oh well.

When James was ten, his Uncle Ron told him a scary story. He remembered sitting on the floor in the living room at the Potter house with a few of his cousins and his six year old sister, Lily, curled up on his lap, watching their uncle enraptured. Fred, sitting next to James, looked unimpressed for the most part as their uncle leaned forward on the seat he'd taken, close to the kids so they could hear him.

"The lake was so clear it was like a sheet of glass, but the moment our hero touched the surface, intending to scoop out water, the small ripple attracted what was below, and a hand shot up without warning to grab his wrist! It was thin, bony, sunken, skin white and translucent to show the bones beneath, and as the Hero struggled to back away, the dark creature followed, rising from the water a corpse, sallow skin hanging from its cheeks and eye sockets empty. Its joints cracked and bent unnaturally as it crawled onto the little island, its brothers and sisters rising and clawing their way towards our Hero-"

Lucy was the first one to scream and start crying, and Ron was left looking startled.

"It's just a story, LuLu, it's not real," he insisted, scooping her into his arms and bouncing her on his knee to calm her down.

"Ron Weasley what are you doing?!" James' mother was in the room now, looking furious, and Ron gave her a sheepish look.

"Nothin, just telling them a story that's all."

"Skeletons, auntie!" Louis yelled from where he was crouched on his knees between Rose and Albus. "They were moving!"

"Skeletons don't move, Louis," Ginny said, and Lily scrambled away from James to run and cling to her.

"I'm not scared!" she squeaked a little, and Ron winced at the glare his sister gave him.

"Aw c'mon, Gin, it's just a spooky story."

"Inferi aren't stories to tell children, Ronald."

"What's a little reanimated corpse gonna do?"

"Up, let's go," Ginny chided him. "You're supposed to be helping with supper."

Ron groaned as he lifted to his feet, making a joke about his body needing to be oiled because he was getting so old, following Ginny out of the living room. Rose leaned over Louis once they were gone, whispering to the rest of them.

"I know what Inferi are. I read about them."

"Of course you did," Fred drawled as James nodded for Rose to continue.

"They're reanimated corpses brought to life by dark wizards," she said lowly. "Murdered muggles or wizards. I read that during the war, Voldemort had amassed an _army_ of Inferi, of people he'd murdered and cursed into Inferi. Someone who becomes an Inferi can't ever pass on into the next life, you know? They'll come back with dark magic and be something _so_ evil, _so_ disfigured and disgusting, that even _hell_ rejects them-"

"MUUUUUM!" Louis yelled as he darted from the room, running from Rose's story, and Fred laughed at her as James grinned.

Rose just huffed and tried to further explain what she knew of Inferi, but Fred just got up and left, Hugo was distracted by a book of his own that had pop-up pictures, James thought he was too old for scary stories anyway, and Albus... well, James didn't know what he thought of it.

He appeared disinterested at first glance, leaning against the couch and watching Rose as she focused on him entirely and continued her long rant. James had to commend his brother for managing to deal with her monologues. Even at ten years old, James was bored with them. He loved his cousin, but she could be so terribly annoying.

No one really seemed worried about the scary story. Lucy cried for a little until her father showed up for supper and let her cling to him the rest of the night, even sitting on his lap while eating. Rose continued to pipe out random facts about reanimated corpses, James decided she knew way too much about these things, and Fred scared the daylights out of Louis by draping a napkin over his head and face and hiding behind the doorway into the kitchen, hopping out with a "boo" that had Louis shrieking and running into the table before falling back onto the ground in a panic.

Fred was scolded for fifteen minutes straight after that, followed by Ron's lecture where he sat pouting and trying to justify his spooky story.

"They're kids, there's no harm."

Ginny disagreed, and James was smart enough to notice his father's face growing pale when Ron told him what the story was about. Later that night before bed, James hugged his father a little tighter and a little longer than usual, patting his back the best he could.

"It's okay, da', skeletons don't really move. It's just a scary story."

Harry looked a millions shades of white and red as he buried a hand in James' hair. "That's right, bud. Go off to bed now."

Lily slept between Harry and Ginny that night, saying _she_ wasn't scared she just thought _they_ might be. No one patronized her for it and Harry thanked her for being such a good little protector.

James had no trouble getting to sleep, face half in his pillow and mouth open in a soft, slow snore as he clung to a giant stuffed dog about as big as he was. It couldn't have been morning yet when he woke up, opening bleary eyes and squinting through the dark, lit dimly by the soft glow of tiny golden orbs that Ginny had charmed into each of their rooms (they would disappear during the day and blink to life like stars at night).

"Wha?" James grunted, lifting his face off the pillow and squinting at the edge of the bed.

It took a minute of adjustment for James to make out the form of his eight year old brother standing there, watching James intently.

"Whatdya want? What time is it?"

"I wanna sleep here," Albus said instead of answering, and James felt momentarily annoyed, until Albus whispered, "I had a bad dream..."

James immediately understood, because he got bad dreams too sometimes. He figured Albus could have just gone to their parents, then remembered Lily was with them already, so he scooted to the side, pushing his stuffed toy off the bed and patting the mattress.

"C'mon, then, Al."

He looked grateful and exhausted, climbing onto the bed and slithering beneath the covers, sheets, blankets, and comforter until only his eyes and the top of his head were sticking up, peering around at the glowing lights.

"What was your dream about?"

Albus didn't answer at first, fidgeting and holding the blankets over his nose, staring down.

"Inferno."

"You mean Inferi?" Albus nodded furiously, and James felt the need to laugh, but thought that would be rude.

He would have been upset had someone laughed at his own discomfort, he had no right to laugh at Al's. Instead he did what his mother and father would do when he had a bad dream. Pulled all the covers on the bed up and scooted closed to Albus so they were sharing a pillow.

"You know they're not real, don't you?"

"Yeah they are, Rose said so," Albus croaked, hiding his face in the blankets. "I looked it up in da's book, the one he keeps in his study, and they do exist. They look so scary... they're living Halloween decorations."

James couldn't control the laugh that time, but felt bad about it after from the way his brother trembled. He snuck closer and fumbled his arms around Albus, who protested with a single whine but nothing else. He seemed to be shaking more than James realized before, his body jerking and shivering against his chest, and James frowned, for a moment unsure of how to fix it. 

He had to try, though. It was his job to always look after his younger siblings, to make them laugh and protect them. His Uncle Bill told him that, a proud look in his eyes as he said it; so proud to be the older brother, so proud to have younger siblings.

_"It's exhausting being the oldest, sometimes you grow up too fast and not even realize it, sometimes you'll find yourself angry at them, but they're more precious than anything else in the world, worth more than a hundred thousand galleons. Which is a lot of galleons, James."_

"What else did da's book say?"

"The infertile don't like light or fire...?"

"Inferi," James corrected again. "That's easy then! Look, see? Mum put all these fire bugs in our rooms! Inferi won't dare try and hurt you while the fire bugs are here!"

"They're not real though," Albus argued. "It's just a spell."

"But the Inferi don't know that," James reminded, and Albus was quiet for a moment before gaping at James, who grinned and ruffled his brother's black hair. "Don't be scared, Aly. You don't ever gotta be when I'm around, cuz I'm your big brother and I'll protect you from everything!"

"Even Inferi?" Albus asked on a whisper, and James gave a sharp nod.

"I'll fight off all the Inferi with a sword made of fire, and I'll fight off Dementors for you, and mum's cooking, and all the mean people from Slytherin!"

"Really?" Albus looked hopeful at that. "Even mum's cooking?"

"You bet!"

"There are a lot of people in Slytherin."

"I don't care if there are millions, I'll beat 'em all up!"

"But uncle says _I_ might be in Slytherin," Albus whispered, and James patted his head.

"Well Aly I guess that means I'll have to beat you up for you too, if you ever bully my brother, you got that?"

Albus giggled finally, his shaking lessening until he'd snuggled closer and fallen asleep. He didn't have any more Inferi nightmares after that, but he did have others, James recalled. They were sometimes very strange, like the nightmare where a giant orange Puffskein swallowed up London (Albus refused to get near them after that), while some were more serious.

James spent at least an hour when Albus was ten, trying to calm him down after a nightmare where their parents had yelled at him, told him they didn't actually love him, that they wished he wasn't their kid, and kicked him out of the house, locking the door so he couldn't get back inside. He cried so hard he almost woke the rest of the house up, but James somehow managed to calm him down by promising he would never let something like that happen.

"Mum and dad love us so much, they would absolutely never do that! Even if they did, you know what I'll do? I'll go with you! That's right! I'll go with you and I'll still protect you! Even if they don't want me to! Cuz that's what I'm supposed to do!"

Honestly though, who could have predicted some of Albus' worst nightmares would come true? Sorted into Slytherin, and suddenly James was laughing at the Slytherin Squib behind Albus' back with the other Gryffindor's in his dorm. The older ones especially seemed to take joy out of gossiping about the false Potter and Voldemort's son.

Then the argument that made Albus wake up sobbing so hard he couldn't breathe, the argument he was so afraid of that James almost couldn't calm him down. James heard it when they yelled at each other, at first he just rolled his eyes because Albus was just a moody teenager after all. Then their father said it, wished Albus wasn't his son.

James had a flash back of that night and what he promised Albus, remembered all those times he swore to be on his brother's side and look out for him, but when he stormed down the hall, left the house, James didn't go with him.

He always swore that he would.

When it came right down to it... he didn't.

The rest of the year was utterly miserable. The first few months from the start of term to Halloween had James in a state of near constant panic, because Albus wasn't there, then he was, then he wasn't, disappearing three times. He wouldn't have been as worried if it hadn't been for the professors worrying, if it hadn't been for their father and the Minister of Magic of all people showing up at the school.

Maybe James wouldn't have worried so much if he hadn't found Craig Bowker Jr dead on the Quidditch pitch.

The summer after that year, he had to note how attentive Harry was being to Albus, even though they still got in a number of smaller arguments now and then. He let Albus visit Scorpius, and even invited Scorpius over a few times. It was nice, because it seemed after so long that Harry and Draco had finally made peace with each other, if only for the sake of their sons.

James and Albus didn't talk much after Christmas. Albus seemed to be busy with Scorpius, and James, well, was busy trying to make up for the past four years of not doing what he always promised in protecting Albus. He lost a handful of friends in his quest to get people to stop picking on Albus, the seventh year Gryffindors he looked up to even turned on him a few times, but less people were targeting Albus now, so James didn't mind.

He kept it a secret of course. The last thing he needed was Albus thinking he was trying to get something out of helping, and frankly he didn't want to hear Albus snap, _"I don't need your help,"_ at him.

The fact of the matter stayed the same. Albus almost died, and James hadn't been the best brother in the world like he always swore he would be. Now he had to make up for lost time, and damn it if James Sirius Potter didn't absolutely dominate in that. He even managed to enlist Louis and Fred's help, Lily didn't take much convincing.

"Lils do you wanna help-"

"Are we messing something up? Let's do it!"

"- with... Albus?"

"Oh. Oh okay."

James couldn't keep everyone from harassing Albus and Scorpius, but he and his cousins did their best, even reaching out to other houses to insist they leave them be. Most of the time they got dirty looks and scowls, some Gryffindor's called them snake lovers, but most of the Hufflepuffs agreed, looking sheepish, and at least three Ravenclaws actually apologized for any distress they may have caused.

"Don't apologize to me," James had said. "Apologize to my brother."

It wasn't until that summer that Albus finally spoke to James. It was the middle of the night, everyone had gone to bed hours ago, but James had a lot on his mind. He was lying in bed of course, but held open above him was a book he'd never really cared for before. He didn't quite care about his History of Magic classes, though he did fine grade-wise. He'd never really bothered to look into it before.

Ever since Albus disappeared, however, and James found out about Delphini through eavesdropping and sneaking around, he found a new interest in the history of the Wizarding Wars. It was terrifying how so much horror could come from just one dark wizard. If Voldemort could make such a mess that lasted for so long and destroyed so many lives, then what was his _daughter_ capable of?

The little orbs of light had converged around him and his book to make it easier to see and read, and he cringed when he turned a page to see a picture of Bellatrix Lestrange (she looked disturbingly like a younger Andromeda). This woman who had singlehandedly killed and tortured so many. Professor Longbottom's parents, Sirius Black, Nymphadora Lupin; killed by Molly Weasley _(fuck yeah,_ James couldn't  help thinking).

There was no knock, James only _just_ heard the door creak open, turning his head but barely catching sight of Albus before he'd dropped the book onto his face, groaning and cupping his hands over his nose as he rolled over and knocked the book to the ground.

"Oh bloody hell, owe."

"I... I thought you'd be asleep."

"What?" James sat up, pulling away his hands before putting them back under his nose to make sure there was no blood, then gaped over at Albus, who was standing awkwardly in the doorway, head down.

This was the first time he'd said anything to James in months, but why did he have to choose midnight to do so? What, he expected James to be sleeping? What was he planning to do then?

"What're you doing in here?" James asked, and it sort of came out harsher than he'd wanted.

Albus tensed and started to back up. "Sorry to interrupt."

"Whoa, hang on, come back." James pushed his blankets back and turned, ready to jump from the bed to stop him physically if he had to. "Come back, what's going on?"

Albus had paused, tapping the doorframe a few times and glancing down the hall both way before stepping back into the bedroom, shutting the door with a click.

"I'm staying in here tonight."

"You are?" James gaped at him, very confused, watching him grab the Puddlemere United quilt that was folded on the foot of his bed.

He then stole the pillow James had been using and dropped it on the floor next to the bed, lying down there and throwing the quilt over himself, curled onto his side facing the door. It was quiet for a moment, and James slowly leaned over the bed to look down at Albus.

"I... guess you are. That's fine, but can I have my book back? I dropped it."

Albus shifted around and pulled out the book, he must have laid down on top of it, but instead of immediately giving it back, he flipped it open.

"What are you doing reading a history book at midnight?"

"What? I'm not allowed to learn?"

Albus had stopped on a page towards the middle, where a photograph of a rather handsome brown haired boy wearing Hufflepuff robes was smiling. James could see his name printed in the ribbon along the bottom of his portrait: _Cedric Diggory, 1977 - 1995 (June 24)._

"Al-"

"He was seventeen, you know," Albus said before James could get out a full word. "Not much older than you."

"Yeah..."

Albus turned the pages back to the same place James had been at, where the photograph of Bellatrix stood there sneering. Albus shut the book with a snap and shoved it up to James without looking at him. James took the book and sat up, feeling even more confused than before as he slowly reopened the book to Bellatrix, and suddenly it hit him, his nose still stinging from when he'd dropped his book.

"Did you have a bad dream?"

"Leave me alone, James."

"Hey, you came into my room, remember. What, were you planning on just taking the quilt and lying down without waking me up or something?" He didn't get an answer, and his heart seized painfully in his chest as he realized yeah, that was his plan. "How... how many times have you done that?"

"I said leave me alone."

"You know you could've just woken me up? If you're having nightmares, I don't mind."

"I don't get nightmares, James, just leave me be."

"Again, this is my bedroom," James said simply, but again he got no reply, so he just sighed, scooting to the other side of the bed. "Al, come up here. There's enough room for you."

"I'm fourteen, I'm not sharing a bed with my sixteen year old brother."

"Why? Afraid I'll hog the blankets? Just get up here before I yell and wake mum and dad up. You know I will."

Albus grumbled after a moment and shifted, standing up with the blanket and pillow and flopping none too elegantly onto the bed, burying his face in the pillow like he intended to suffocate himself.

James pulled all the covers back up, taking a moment to ensure Albus was comfortably tucked in before lying down himself and opening his book. For a long time it was silent, James was able to read a few more pages, the little lights dancing around the words, until Albus spoke, his voice muffled in the pillow.

"Did you say something?" James asked, not taking his eyes away from the page talking about the Centaurs and their outrage at shrinking territory.

Albus shifted a bit, head turning so his mouth wasn't shoved against the pillow, staring at the door and the Quidditch poster James had pinned up.

"I saw the Thestrals," he muttered, and James didn't seem to comprehend the words at first, giving a hum before pausing, his page half turned.

"Wait..."

"When we were taken back to the train." Albus clarified. "In the carriages. I saw 'em."

"That's not possible you know," James snorted. "Look I know they spook you out, that's kind of my fault, but bad dreams aren't reality-"

"I saw Craig die," Albus interrupted, and James felt something sour settle in his mouth, remembering Craig lying cold and stiff on the Quidditch pitch, "and later I saw... other people die."

"You saw it?" James asked. "Craig?"

Albus nodded. "Scorpius and I saw it. He... got in the way... just like... like Cedric Diggory."

James didn't know what to say, frozen where he was sitting and staring at his brother in a state of confused horror.

"Thestrals can only be seen by people who have witnessed death. I didn't think I'd ever have to worry about it, but you know... I'm not exactly lucky. They're not as scary as I always thought. No, I think... I think I've seen plenty that's way scarier."

"Delphini," James said, and Albus flinched. "That's her name, right? I overheard dad-"

"She killed him."

"Albus, I'm-"

"I did have a kind of bad dream," Albus muttered, not giving James a chance to finish even a single sentence. "Green light. Y'know... I like that color, really, but... suddenly looking at it makes me feel sick. Which is bad, because I'm a Slytherin, and my entire dorm is green."

James had a million questions he wanted to ask, clinging to his book as he took a moment to calm himself down, finally looking back at Albus once he was sure he wouldn't say something stupid.

"What was your nightmare about?"

Stupid, that was stupid, that was one of the stupid things he shouldn't have said-

"Craig dying," Albus answered, and James held his breath. "I really... get how dad felt now. After watching Diggory die I mean. Dad probably had nightmares too... his life really sucked."

James couldn't hold the nervous laugh, shaking his head. "He's happy now."

"I know," Albus said. "I just... didn't want to be alone right now. Sorry."

"Don't worry about that, I was already awake anyway." James closed his book and set it down, lying back and watching the little lights spread around the room. "Dad probably would understand what you're feeling better than I could," James admitted, "because I honestly don't understand at all. I wish I did."

"I hope you never do," Albus said softly, and James felt his heart jump again. "I know I can talk to dad, but he's not... he's different. He'll try to fix everything, that's just how he is, and there's nothing he can fix with me. It's just a dream..."

It sounded like he wanted to say more, but was quiet or holding back, so James rolled onto his side, reaching out to poke him in the back, "And?"

Albus hesitated and grumbled. "And... you've always been better than me at fighting off the things that don't exist. Like... nightmares."

James felt himself swell in pride at that, at the fact despite everything, Albus still knew he could rely on James, especially about something like this. The situation with Delphini and Craig was so beyond James, but maybe that was why Albus came to him and not their father, because he didn't want to be near what happened right now, he didn't want to be reminded of it. He needed a distraction, needed to feel safe.

"You got that right," James said, grabbing onto the covers and jerking them higher, throwing an arm around Albus, who grunted in irritation as James threw his weight into his back. "I'm the absolute best at kicking ass that doesn't exist. Remember! I'm your big brother and I'll protect you from everything! I'll fight off every Thestral and dark witch with a sword made of fire."

He squeezed Albus, and this horrible feeling settled in his gut, because Albus watched someone _die,_  watched someone get _murdered,_ and honestly... honestly James didn't know how to help. Albus could have died to. James swore he'd always follow him and look after him if he was chased away, but he didn't, and Albus almost died; because he hesitated.

"I'll fight off Dementors for you... and mum's cooking... and the Gryffindors who keep picking on you and Scorpius... and all the mean people from Slytherin."

"I'm one of those mean people from Slytherin, James."

"Then I'll kick your ass too. Haven't I told you that before?"

"You talk about kicking ass a lot for someone who's only five foot seven inches and gets excited over red plaid."

"Shut up. I am not that short."

"Are you gonna stop hugging me anytime soon, _Not That Short?"_

"For that quip? Die this way."

Albus snorted hard, hiding his face in the pillow as he chuckled, and James pressed his forehead against Albus' back.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there."

"I'm not," Albus muttered.

"I could've helped."

"You could've died."

"So could you."

Albus didn't answer, but James figured he knew his brother well enough to know what he wanted to say. So he tightened his grip impossibly.

"Mum and dad never would have recovered if you had died, Al. Lily wouldn't have either. Or me. We'd be broken if we lost you."

He could practically feel how much Albus wanted to protest and argue that they would have been fine, James could already hear him.

 _"A family of Gryffindor's don't need a Slytherin to tarnish their reputation anyway,"_ and, _"People don't believe I'm a Potter anyway, just getting rid of an extra,"_ or, _"Dad wanted me gone a few months ago anyway, what makes now different?"_

"We'd be broken and you can't tell me otherwise."

"I figured I'd broken the family already, back when I got sorted."

"Nope, you didn't."

"Certainly feels like I got broken."

"Yet you still fit perfectly."

"Do I?"

"Yup. The only way you could break this family is by dying on us, so don't ever run off and do something stupid like that again."

"Considering my track record..."

"Fine, then just tell someone when you're about to do something stupid."

"I tell Scorpius."

"And he tags along, that's not what I meant at all. Tell me, okay?"

"You're saying you wouldn't tag along too if given the chance?"

"Well if I don't have Quidditch practice-"

"Never mind I don't care."

James snickered, and after a moment let go of Albus, rolling onto the other side of the bed and watching as the dimly lit orbs bounced along in the room. He was happy to have managed to make Albus laugh, but there was still a horrible pit in his stomach, a voice in his head telling him he could've done so much more, and his uncle Bill's voice adding his input.

_"It's exhausting being the oldest..."_

It really was.

_"Not everything is your job, James, remember that. As the oldest you have every right to look after and protect them, but if something goes wrong, you can't hate yourself for it. You can't predict the future."_

Bill always gave good advice, and considering how miserable James was feeling about Delphini and Albus, he decided maybe it was about time to reach out to him for some oldest sibling words of wisdom. With plans made to send an owl the next day, James rolled over and peered over at Albus, who was lying on his back, eyes closed.

James poked him once to see if he was asleep, and after deciding he was, he just laid there and watched him for a moment, ensuring he wasn't having anymore bad dreams.

This used to happen a lot when they were much younger, five year old Albus would toddle into James' room and cling to him because he saw something in his closet, a shadow, or had a scary dream. James used to be a super hero who was always there to make Albus smile, and thought himself the greatest big brother in the world, because Albus always said so.

As they got older, though, Albus stopped coming to him for help, and James knew it was normal of course, but he missed it, being able to help his brother through the tough times. Albus was getting stronger, he could deal with a lot on his own, but it didn't matter if he could or not.

What mattered was if he knew he didn't _have to,_ because no matter how isolated Albus made himself or how hard he tried to block out his family due to self internalized hate, he wasn't alone. Unfortunately, he was a teenager, and James had a feeling it would take Albus a long time to accept that no matter what he did, or how many times he may mess up, every time he looked behind him expecting to be alone, he was going to see his family. Hell, even if they did leave, he was still going to see James there, because James loved his family too much to give up on them. Even if they did almost destroy the world.


End file.
